Bottle holding attachment



p 1967 J. D. BENNYHOFF BOTTLE HOLDING ATTACHMENT Filed March 24, 1966INVENTOR JAMES D. BEN/v YHOF'F A 7' TOP/V5 Y5 United States Patent3,342,443 BOTTLE HOLDING ATTACHMENT James D. Bennyhoff, Rte. 1, Box826-E, Excelsior, Minn. 55331 Filed Mar. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 537,140 4Claims. (Cl. 248-104) This invention relates generally to holdingdevices, and more particularly, to improvements in bottle holdingattachments for infants seats of the reclining type.

An important object of this invention is the provision of a bottleholding attachment which can be quickly and easily applied to an infantsseat for supporting a feeding bottle in proper position to dispenseliquid food to the infant occupying the seat, and as quickly and easilyremoved.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a bottle holdingattachment which may be easily adjusted to various position relative tothe seat whereby to present a feeding bottle to infants of diiferentsizes or to an infant disposed in various positions in the seat.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a bottle holdingattachment as set forth, which will, if the bottle is pushed away by theinfant, support the bottle in a generally upright position.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a bottle holdingattachment having means for preventing accidental detachment from aninfants seat which is mounted.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a bottleholding attachment which is relatively simple and inexpensive toproduce, which is easy to keep in a sanitary condition, and which isdurable in use. To the above ends, I provide a bottle holding attachmentcomprising a main body and a yoke, the main body being made fromasinglelength of fairly stiff or hard but resilient metal wire formed toprovide a generally U-shaped saddle at its longitudinally centralportion, a pair of upper arm portions diverging downwardly from oppositeends of the saddle and having outer ends curving downwardly andinwardly, a pair of downwardly converging arm portions extending fromsaid outer ends and having lower end portions bent to form downwardlydiverging leg portions terminating at their lower ends in outwardly andupwardly curving hook-like feet, the yoke being curved and formed toprovide loops at its opposite ends, said loops encompassing the mainbody adjacent the opposite ends of the U-shaped saddle, the yoke andsaddle cooperating to define an opening for reception of an infantfeeding bottle.

The above, and still further highly important objects and advantages ofthis invention will become apparent from the following detailedspecification, appended claims and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the invention, and in whichlike reference characters indicate like parts throughout the severalviews:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of an infants reclining seat showing thebottle holding attachment of this invention mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken substantially on theline 2-2 of FIG. 1, but showing the attachment of this invention in adifferent position from that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 but showing a differentposition of the attachment;

FIG. 4 is a view in front elevation of the bottle holding attachment;

FIG. 5 is a view in side elevation; and

FIG. 6 is a view in top plan.

The bottle holding attachment of the present invention is adapted for'use with infant supporting devices, particularly of the type shown inUS. Patent 2,324,421 and 3,006,688, which are in the nature of seatswhich can be adjusted between generally upright positions and rearwardlytilted reclining positions. A reclining seat of this general type isshown in FIG. 1 and indicated in its entirety by the numeral 1, the seatcomprising a bottom 2, a rear wall 3 and laterally spaced side walls 4,the side walls 4 being relatively wide or deep at the lower portionthereof near the bottom wall 2, and relatively shallow toward the upperend portions thereof. Such seats are generally made from plastics andare formed with marginal reinforcing flanges or beads 5. Further, theseat 1 is shown as including supporting legs or braces 6 and 7 which maybe assumed to be adjustable to vary the inclination of the seat 1. Theseat 1 in and of itself does not comprise the instant invention. Hence,in the interest of brevity, further detailed showing and descriptionthereof is omitted.

The attachment of this invention comprises a main body 8 and acooperating yoke 9. The main body 8 is preferably made from a singlerelatively long length of somewhat stiff but resilientvwire or metal rodformed at its longitudinally central portion to provide a generallyU-shaped saddle 10. The body 8 is bent downwardly at the opposite endsof the saddle 10, as indicated at 11, to provide a pair of downwardlydiverging upper arm portions 12 the outer ends 13 of which curvedownwardly and inwardly to provide the outer ends of lower arm portions14 which converge in a downward direction. At the inner or lower ends ofthe arms 14, the main body 8 is, bent, as indicated at 15, to providedownwardly diverging leg portions 16 which terminate at their lower endsin laterally outwardly projecting foot p0rtions which define upwardlyopening hooks .17.

As shown, the yoke 9. is formed from a relatively short length ofresilient wire similar to that of the body.8,

and is curved in a direction opposite to the curve of the saddle 10..Atits opposite ends, the yoke 9 is formed to provide a pair of loops 18which encompass the main body 8 at the bends 11 or adjacent the oppositeends of thesaddle 10, the yoke 9 overlying the saddle .10. andcooperating therewith to define an opening 19 for reception of aconventional nipple-equipped babys feeding bottle 20. The opening 19 hasa width greater than the width of a conventional feeding bottle 20, anda height slightly less than the cross sectional height of the bottle,the resilience of the main body 8 and yoke 9 permitting the same toyield sufficiently to permit insertion of the bottle 20 into the opening19, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, but firmly gripping the bottle 20 againstaccidental slippage in the opening 19.

In use, a pair of preferably countersunk openings 21 are made in theside walls 14 of the reclining seat 1, and the hook-like foot portions17 are inserted into the openings 21. In practice, the normal distancebetween the leg portions 16 is somewhat greater than the space betweenthe walls 4 of the seat 1, so that the legs 16 must be moved toward eachother to permit insertion of the foot portions 17 through the openings21. Preferably, the distance between the bends 15 is substantially equalto the distance between the walls 4 of the seat. With the foot portions17 extending outwardly through their respective openings 21, theattachment may be adjusted upwardly or downwardly relative to the seat 1by sliding the leg portions 16 angularly upwardly or downwardly throughtheir respective openings, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, the attachment beingfrictionally held against upward or downward movement due to thefrictional engagement of the leg portions 16 against the inner surfaceof the side walls 4 adjacent the openings 21. Thus,

Patented Sept. 19, 1967 the attachment may be easily placed so that thefeeding nipple of the bottle 20 is properly positioned with respect tothe infant seated in the seat 1. Should the feeding infant push thebottle 20 in a forward direction, the main body 8 will merely pivotabout the axes of the openings 21 toward its dotted line position shownin FIG. 1, wherein the feeding bottle 20 will be held in a generallyupright position, whereby to prevent leakage of the liquid foodtherefrom through the nipple. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the curvedportions 13 of the main body 8 are disposed a greater distance apartthan the normal distance between the foot portions 17, whereby to besomewhat out of the reach of the infant and to engage the marginal heador flange on the side Walls 4 to limit swinging movements of the mainbody 8.

It will be further noted, with respect to FIGS. 5 and 6, that thevarious portions of the main body 8 and the yoke 9 are disposed in acommon plane that is substantially straight with respect to thetransverse dimension of the main body 8 and curved or arcuate withrespect to the generally vertical dimension of the main body 8. Thiscurvature places the feeding bottle 20 at a proper angle to dispense theliquid food therein when the main body 8 is swung to its feedingposition relative to the infant within the seat 1. It will be furthernoted that, should the infant occupying the seat 1 grasp one side or theother of the main body 8 and manage to pull the same upwardly, theadjacent hook-like foot portion 17 will hookingly engage the side wall 4surrounding the adjacent opening and prevent the adjacent-like portion16 from being totally withdrawn from the opening 21. However, when it isdesired to remove the attachment from the seat, it is a simple matter toraise the main body 8 until the foot portions 17 are adjacent their respective openings 21, thereafter moving the leg portions 16 laterallytoward each other to cause the foot portions 17 to be withdrawn from theopenings 21. The main body 8 and yoke 9 may, if desired, be painted,covered with plastic material, or otherwise treated. The simplicity ofthe device allows the same to be easily cleaned and kept in a sanitarycondition.

While I have shown and described a commercial embodiment of myattachment for infants seats, it will be understood that the same iscapable of modification without departure from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bottle holding attachment for infants reclining seats having spacedside walls and bottom and back walls, said attachment comprising a mainbody and a yoke, said main body being formed from a single relativelylong length of somewhat hard resilient metallic wire to provide, agenerally U-shaped saddle intermediate its ends,

a pair of normally downwardly diverging upper arm portions extendingfrom said saddle and having outer ends forming, and a pair of downwardlyconverging lower arm portions having lower end portions bent to form apair of downwardly diverging leg portions, the lower ends of said legportions terminating in a pair of laterally outwardly projecting footportions, said yoke comprising a relatively short length of wire bentinto arcuate form and having its opposite ends formed into loopsencompassing said main body adjacent opposite ends of said saddle, saidyoke cooperating with said body to define an opening for reception of aninfants feeding bottle, said foot and leg portions being adapted toproject outwardly through openings in the side walls of an infantsreclining seat, said leg portions being disposed a distance apartwhereby the resilience of said body yieldingly urges said leg portionstoward engagement with said side walls adjacent the openings thereinwhen the legs are projected through said openings.

2. The bottle holding attachment defined in claim 1 in which thedownwardly curving outer ends of said upper arm portions are normallydisposed a greater distance apart than said foot portions.

3. The bottle holding attachment defined in claim 1 in which said footportions curve laterally outwardly and upwardly from the lower ends ofsaid leg portions to define upwardly opening hooks.

4. The bottle holding attachment defined in claim 3 in which said saddleand said upper and lower arm, leg and foot portions are all disposed ina common plane having a straight lateral dimension and a curved normallygenerally vertical dimension.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,336,809 4/1920 Batty 248-4073,151,828 10/1964 Alloy 248104 3,153,556 10/1964 Westerback 248-107 X3,184,193 5/1965 Melvin 248-106 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

R. P. SEITTER, Assistant Examiner.

1. A BOTTLE HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR INFANT''S RECLINING SEATS HAVINGSPACED SIDE WALLS AND BOTTOM AND BACK WALLS, SAID ATTACHMENT COMPRISINGA MAIN BODY AND A YOKE, SAID MAIN BODY BEING FORMED FROM A SINGLERELATIVELY LONG LENGTH OF SOMEWHAT HARD RESILIENT METALLIC WIRE TOPROVIDE; A GENERALLY U-SHAPED SADDLE INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS, A PAIR OFNORMALLY DOWNWARDLY DIVERGING UPPER ARM PORTIONS EXTENDING FROM SAIDSADDLE AND HAVING OUTER ENDS FORMING, AND A PAIR OF DOWNWARDLYCONVERGING LOWER ARM PORTIONS HAVING LOWER END PORTIONS, BENT TO FORM APAIR OF DOWNWARDLY DIVERGING LEG PORTIONS, THE LOWER ENDS OF SAIDPORTIONS TERMINATING IN A PAIR OF LATERALLY OUTWARDLY PROJECTING FOOTPORTIONS, SAID YOKE COMPRISING A RELATIVELY SHORT LENGTH OF WIRE BENTINTO ARCUATE FORM AND HAVING ITS OPPOSITE ENDS FORMED INTO LOOPSENCOMPASSING SAID MAIN BODY ADJACENT OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID SADDLE, SAIDYOKE COOPERATING WITH SAID BODY TO DEFINE AN OPENING FOR RECEPTION OF ANINFANT''S FEEDING BOTTLE, SAID FOOT AND LEG PORTIONS BEING ADAPTED TOPROJECT OUTWARDLY THROUGH OPENINGS IN THE SIDE WALLS OF AN INFANT''SRECLINING SEAT, SAID LEG PORTIONS BEING DISPOSED A DISTANCE APARTWHEREBY THE RESILIENCE OF SAID BODY YIELDINGLY URGES SAID LEG PORTIONSTOWARD ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SIDE WALLS ADJACENT THE OPENINGS THEREINWHEN THE LEGS ARE PROJECTED THROUGH SAID OPENINGS.